Sadly, you're right: Korg is way ahead of Yamaha in this regard -I try not to think much about this, because it makes me angry
At least for me, it would definitely not be "easy" -but is possible, of course.. it always is.Would it be easy to add a ''copy'' function between variations?
Interesting idea!This way, we could have the first pattern on variation A ,the second on Variation B , then move all tracks from B(8-16) to Variation A (1-8) , leaving Variation B totally empty ,
so then we could have all chords playing on Variation A (9-16) and when we press (1+5) the pattern changes to upbeat using (1-8).
But before I even start thinking about how to make a "copy" function, let me try to explain something:
As I have shown in the video, channels 1-8 must be mapped to channels 9-16. Let's say Ch3 is mapped to Ch14... in this case the voice that is assigned to Ch14, will also be used for Ch3 -that is, Ch14 is a master channel.
What does that mean for your idea (using ch1-8 for 1+5) is: no matter what voices we assign to Ch9-16 in MainB, after channels are copied to Ch1-8 in MainA (and mapped to Ch9-16), those channels will use the voices that are assigned to Ch9-16 in MainA.
In short: channels 1-8 will have the same voices as channels 9-16. This is also true for other global settings on channels 9-16 (volume, pan, effect, etc.).
And here's the question: is this Ch1-8 mapping behavior problematic in case of your "1+5 upbeat" idea?
If you haven't already, then I suggest you first try to make (1+5) style with my program as it is. I know it's a lot of copying... and let me know if the style will work the way you imagine.
Update
I need to correct myself.. be more precise actually:
As from example above (Ch3 mapped to Ch14).. we can have different voices in those two channels, however if we change voice for Ch14 later on keyboard, then Ch3 will also get the same new voice -which we don't wish, of course.
There's probably another problem with switching to channels 1-8 by playing "special" (1+5) chord. Channels 1-8 will only sound properly if they have the setting:
NTR=Root Transpose
NTT=Bypass
That is, we can not have chord progressions within octave (chord inversions) in Ch1-8, because that's only possible if:
NTR=Root Fixed
NTT=Chord
I know.. it's confusing. That's why I suggested that you try first with few channels only and see if you can get expected result.
All above has less to do with copying channels from MainB to MainA -I only wonder if copying would be useful for what you wish to accomplish.
Greetings, Bogdan